


Substitutes

by starghost



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Gen, Hogsmeade, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5856109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starghost/pseuds/starghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James finally gets a date with Lily. The other Marauders help. Friends! They're great and terrible. Originally posted to LJ in July 2004.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Substitutes

"Guess who's got a date with a gorgeous redhead?" James says, bursting into the common room. Remus, Sirius, and Peter lay on the floor with textbooks thrown open over half-filled parchment.  
  
"But, Prongs, darling, I have black hair," Sirius says, batting his eyelashes coquettishly and running the feather of his quill along his jaw.  
  
"No, he must be talking about someone else. Maybe Jones has a date with that Hufflepuff, Bradshaw," Remus suggests.  
  
"Why's _he_ so excited, then?" Peter asks.  
  
"He gets to watch?" Sirius suggests, and Peter bursts into laughter while Remus and Sirius look innocently at James.  
  
"Is that right? Good on you, James. Closest to date you've had in ages," Remus says. James crosses his arms and huffs impatiently.  
  
"No, you berks, me! Evans finally said yes!" James exclaims, then pauses and continues more thoughtfully. "Well. Less of an outright 'yes' then a 'God, you're bloody persistent. Fine, fine, but it's all on your wallet, Potter. And not a cheap dinner, either.' were her exact words, I think."  
  
"Sounds promising," Sirius says, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Quite. When's the big night, then?" Remus asks with a wry grin.  
  
"Yes, we'd better come along. In case she gets too excited and you can't handle her. You know what they say about redheads and all," Sirius says with a sharp nudge and wink at Peter, who laughs.  
  
"What do they say about redheads? What are you implying? Who says?" James asks indignantly, crouching on the floor. His posture is somewhere between menacing and begging, and Sirius pushes his shoulders lightly, causing him to fall backwards.  
  
"You know. Um. Redheads," Sirius glances around for inspiration, the laughter almost spilling out of his voice. "They. Have red hair?"  
  
"Well, they're supposed to have fiery personalities and quick tempers," Remus adds, pushing James fully off of him.  
  
"But we already knew that about Evans—" Peter says, stopping after a piercing look from James. "Not that she isn't a wonderfully nice girl, and beautiful too, with great le—I mean. It's great that after seven years she finally took pity on—I'm just going to stop talking now."  
  
"It's generally better that way," Sirius says, patting his shoulder. James props himself up off the floor and straightens his glasses.  
  
"And I'm not telling any of you lot when it is. I'm not having you botch this!" James peers over Remus's shoulder. "What're you doing, anyway?"  
  
"The essay for Flitwick. Yours done?" Remus replies, scratching out a line on his paper.  
  
"Oh, bugger."  
  
***  
  
In the dorm a few days later, Peter is idly shooting bubbles out of the end of his wand while Sirius pops them with his own. Remus kicks Sirius in the back.  
  
"Sodding hell, Moony, that hurt. What?" Sirius says roughly, and pops a bubble rather violently.  
  
"Are we going on dear Prongs's date?" He kicks Sirius again, much more softly.  
  
"Of course we are. It's not like we don't know when it is," he says, turning away from the dwindling bubbles. He sits in front of Remus and flips his wand around between his fingers like a baton.  
  
"But we don't know," Peter pipes up, his voice muffled. He's hanging over the side of his bed, pulling the blanket up and looking under it. Remus flicks a wad of paper at the back of his neck, and he springs up, rubbing the spot the paper hit.  
  
"Of course we know. It's Hogsmeade weekend after next, isn't it? And Lily said he had to buy dinner, so they'd have to be leaving school grounds," Remus says.  
  
"Excellent deduction, Watson," Sirius growls, holding his wand like a pipe. Peter's face falls and he scoots back a little on the bed. "What, Wormtail? Should I have transfigured a pillow into a hat?"  
  
"No, it was funny," he says, then mutters something quickly.  
  
"What? Moony, did you catch that?" Sirius asks, leaning forward. Remus grins slowly.  
  
"I think he said—"  
  
"I'vegotadate," Peter says quickly. Sirius perks up his ears and crawls over to Peter's bed, resting his elbows on the edge.  
  
"With who?" he sings, delighted. "Oh, our little Wormtail's growing up! His first Hogsmeade date! Come on, mate, who's the girl?"  
  
"Erm. Miranda Broderick. From Ravenclaw." Peter tries to push Sirius off his bed, knowing the response he'll get. Remus can't see it, but knows the look on Sirius's face.  
  
"She's pretty enough. That'll be nice, Peter," Remus says diplomatically.  
  
"Pretty? Nice? I've seen her in the halls talking to Nott and Young." Sirius pushes himself off Peter's bed and sits back on his heels again. "You be careful, mate. Don't let her talk you into anything stupid." Peter looks hurt.  
  
"That's enough, Sirius, really," Remus says, getting off his trunk.  
  
"But Broderick! Who knows what she gets up to with the likes of them—" Sirius stands up and faces Remus.  
  
"Homework, perhaps—" Remus interrupts calmly, and puts his hands on Sirius's shoulders.  
  
"Homework! She's probably as bad as Snivellus, and those Slytherins!" Sirius hisses at Remus. Remus clenches his teeth and pushes him back into the hangings of someone's bed, where he gets tangled.  
  
"You're one to judge, Black." Remus says coldly, looking down at the struggling form. He turns and leaves the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Sirius stops, his weight pulling at the cloth.  
  
"Bloody—sodding—" he says, before letting out a wordless sound of frustration. Tearing himself free of the hangings, he stands at the foot of the bed, breathing heavily. Sirius presses the heel of his hand on his forehead. "Fuck," he says quietly, with vehemence. Peter is hunched in the middle of his bed, glaring at Sirius.  
  
_I'm a complete idiot_ , thinks Sirius, and says it out loud for good measure.  
  
"Yes. You are that," Peter says with a slight bite to his tone. Sirius catches his eye, and after a moment they shrug at each other, apologies between them seeming less difficult in the past year. "S'only about a bird, after all."  
  
"Yeah," Sirius says. "Be careful though, mate. Don't want you to get into any trouble, whether it's Dark or of the girly sort." Peter grins at him slowly. He looks away, tapping his fingers on the doorknob before opening it.  
  
Sirius creeps down to the common room, but changes his steps to more confident ones when he sees some younger years hanging about. He grins at one of the boys half-menacingly, and when the boy covers his ears he wonders what he did. It's not his style to hex younger students. Outright prank, yes, but not hex. There is no art to hexing, while Sirius believes the things he does should be considered masterpieces.  
  
After a cursory inspection of the common room fails to produce any sign of Remus, Sirius slips out through the portrait hole. He considers going back for the Marauder's Map, but remembers James has it and continues on.  
  
No less than an hour later, Sirius pushes open the door to one more room and stands tiredly inside, glancing around. When he sees a figure stretched out in the window, he steps further in and shuts the door behind him. He lets a moment pass.  
  
"Moony—"  
  
"Shut it." Remus stops him, and turns his head. The bright light streaming in from the windows shines off his hair, giving him a soft halo. His next words are low, but less dangerous than before. "You know you can't just go off like that."  
  
"What do you want me to say? You won't accept my apology now, and if I say I won't do it again, you won't believe me," Sirius counters. He crosses his arms in front of him, staring at Remus.  
  
"Would you believe it?" Remus asks, and Sirius looks away. Remus turns to let his legs hang off the edge of the window seat. "I'm not mad at you, really, so you don't need to apologize to me. You just—You don't _think_ when anything with the Dark Arts comes up. Dark things aren't always bad, and people who are involved in the Dark Arts aren't always evil."  
  
"I know," Sirius says quietly. He stands there watching the dust swirl in the light of the window. "I am sorry, though." Remus hops off the seat and walks over to Sirius, putting a hand on his shoulder briefly, then walking past and opening the door. Sirius considers staying in the room and wallowing in artificial misery, but turns and follows Remus to the kitchens instead. They gather a small feast of chocolates and butterbeer that they bring back to the Gryffindor Tower, expecting to share with Peter, who isn't there.  
  
***  
  
The chill of winter is still in the air as the shifting mass of students gathers to be counted and let loose upon Hogsmeade. Third years clump anxiously, chattering about the shops they're going to this visit; older students mill about, counting their change and looking bored with their jackets wrapped around them. Sirius flips the collar of his jacket up around his neck and leans back on his heels.  
  
"Just you'n me for once, eh?" he says.  
  
"Your nose is turning red," Remus replies, and pulls his scarf absently over his mouth and nose. He glances about over the deep blue edge of it. "It is an odd feeling, though. We've never been split up like this."  
  
"Yes, we have. The time you couldn't come because—You were sick. And once James had detention." Sirius shoves his hands in his pockets.  
"But only one of us has ever been gone," Remus observes.  
  
The students are moving now, and Filch is looking crabbily over a long sheet of parchment. Sirius hitches his collar up again and looks at Remus, who is pulling apart the fringe of his scarf, and they follow the crowd. Somewhere ahead Sirius can see James standing up straight, leading Lily Evans gallantly by a hand on her elbow. Sirius rolls his eyes when James holds a door for her.  
  
"So what do two lone Marauders do when faced with such a dismal sight as an entire wizarding town for the taking?" Remus asks, pulling Sirius back to himself.  
  
"Oh, I don't know. M'cold." Sirius can hear the pout aching to come out in his voice, and he shuts his mouth quickly. Remus smirks.  
  
"Should've worn your coat," he says, pulling Sirius into the next store they pass. Sirius hunches in on himself, his ears and nose red from the cold air.  
  
"Yes, but I don't look half as good in it. And I didn't think it'd be quite so cold." He pauses, and Remus glances around the store before pointing his wand at Sirius and murmuring something. Right away Sirius can feel an extra layer blocking the cold between his jacket and his jumper, and he grins. "And I knew you'd do something like that if I was cold."  
  
"Remus Lupin: Protector from the Elements, Rescuer of Cold Persons, Preventer of Days Filled With Whining About The Weather—" He stops when Sirius punches his arm. "I strike the last bit from the record."  
  
"You can still harbor delusions of being a superhero if you must," Sirius says magnanimously, opening the door. Remus steps out, holding his chin high, and poses with his chest out and fists on his hips.  
  
"Another crisis averted!" he exclaims, causing some passing fourth years to give him odd looks. Sirius comes out behind him, laughing, and Remus relaxes into his usual stance. The fourth years smile hesitantly and hurry past.  
  
After walking between stores for a while, Sirius insists on finding food, and Remus is almost surprised to find James and Lily already at a table. When they sit down at a table, with James and Lily well within sight, Remus toes Sirius under it and gives him a look. Sirius meets his eyes as innocently as he can, and Remus rolls his eyes.  
  
"All right, what?" Sirius asks irritably.  
  
"I thought we weren't going to bother them until this evening." Sirius tries to look affronted.  
  
"Who's bothering? I'm hungry, I'm here to eat and that's what I plan on doing, so since when is keeping them in my eyesight bothering them?" Sirius says.  
  
"For goodness sake, Sirius, it's not like you have a thing for Lily and should be jealous!" Remus says. Sirius looks shifty enough that he asks, "Do you?"  
  
"Of course not." Sirius looks over at the couple, where Lily is laughing slightly while James smiles at her. He frowns a bit.  
  
"Well, then why are you acting like James did when Lily spent a day with anyone not him? You've nothing to be jealous of," Remus states, and stirs his tea. Sirius lifts the bread of his sandwich and peers under it.  
  
"I thought I said no pickles," Sirius sniffs, picking the little green circles off and letting them flop on the edge of his plate. He lifts the pickle-free sandwich to his nose and sniffs it. "Still smells of pickles."  
  
"Sirius, are you jealous of _Lily_?" Remus says, feeling surprised. He lets his spoon slide against the edge of his cup, spun by the movement of the liquid. "You are. You're jealous of Lily." Sirius hunches over his sandwich, sniffing it again.  
  
"I really don't like pickles, you know," he says, a last half-hearted attempt to distract Remus.  
  
"Padfoot, it's okay," Remus says, and Sirius glances up at him through the fringe of his hair. "I mean, he's your best friend."  
  
"Yeah." Sirius's voice is low, and a moment after he agrees the tinge of sadness in Remus's voice registers. He sits up and looks at Remus, putting his sandwich down. "You know I love you, right Moony? You're not just some James-substitute, but I'd do anything for you too." Neither of them says anything for a moment, the slightest awkward feeling in this declaration. Sirius picks up his sandwich and looks at it hungrily.  
  
"Let me have your sandwich if you love me so much," Remus challenges, grinning wolfishly.  
  
"Not for a thousand galleons, dear friend." Sirius takes as big of a bite as he can and chews it with as much satisfaction as he can muster, until he finds the need to breathe again. Remus clutches his heart.  
  
"Alas! My friendship is not worth a sandwich! Oh what a strike to mine heart, oh what a blow to mine soul. I can feel all the happiness and joy I once found in this relationship now draining away—Nay, being chewed away by monstrous molars!" Remus cries melodramatically, half falling out of his seat. Sirius chokes on his laughter, trying to swallow his sandwich.  
  
"Well, not worth this sandwich. Maybe a lesser sandwich, such as ham, or one of those no-meat ones. You're definitely worth a no-meat sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice." Sirius takes a swig of his butterbeer without setting down his sandwich.  
  
"Have you ever eaten a no-meat sandwich?" Remus asks, and Sirius shakes his head. "How affirming; I'm worth something you don't even know if you like or not."  
  
"Well," Sirius says. He looks between Remus and the sandwich. "I'd be willing to share this sandwich. Your friendship is worth part of this sandwich."  
  
"I can live with that. You're friendship isn't worth a pickle to me," Remus says lightly, taking the sandwich from Sirius before he can be stopped. After Remus takes a bite, Sirius reaches across the table and snatches the sandwich back, looking indignant and holding it close.  
  
"That's it. I'm never being serious around you again," he sulks, and Remus looks concerned.  
  
"Then who will you be?" he asks. Sirius looks at him with a gleam in his eye.  
  
"You. I'll ponce around in your old jackets and talk about how great old musty books are, and how I'd like some tea, and can't you lot be a little quieter," he says, sitting up straighter and pulling Remus's tea toward him, "and maybe sit down and study once in a while? Goodness, I don't know how you pass all your classes, James, with all your going after Evans and always playing Quidditch, at least Sirius sits around with a book open in front of him once in a while and—"  
  
"You make me sound like a complete nag!" Remus protests. Sirius takes a sip of tea and sticks his tongue out in distaste.  
  
"None of you understand the greatness behind the classics; you won't even try reading this huge book by some dead bloke." Sirius gestures with his hands, indicating less of a book than a cube.  
  
"Well, reading is very peaceful and relaxing—" Remus starts.  
  
"Moony, it's boring. I don’t like peace and quiet, you know—"  
  
"And it's a really human thing to do, really." Remus says quietly, and Sirius looks at him fiercely, almost scolding. Remus continues, folding and unfolding a napkin while he speaks. "And anyway, I do like peace and quiet, and that's not all there is to books, but we've been through this before. Eat your sandwich and give me back my tea."  
  
"I did like that book of, well, not quite poems," Sirius admits, sliding the tea back across the table. "The one by the Chinese bloke." Remus watches Sirius's expression change to a more thoughtful, quiet one. The look is usually reserved for discussions in the middle of the night, behind drawn bed curtains or hidden away in a secret room. Remus thinks this Sirius is just for him, because of some aspect of their friendship that is missing around the pranks and wildness with James or the playful mockery with Peter, and he smiles to himself.  
  
***  
  
Hours later, the sun is threatening to set behind the buildings of Hogsmeade, casting long shadows on the streets and the students hustling from shop to shop for one last purchase before leaving. Under a street lamp, Lily and James stand, barely talking. Sirius cups his hands more tightly around the hot drink he has, looking at Remus pleadingly.  
  
"What?" Remus asks. "As if you've ever needed my permission before." Sirius sips very slowly at his drink, then blows more steam off of it, a grin in his eyes.  
  
"Evans! Why, you're looking rather fetching tonight—" Sirius calls out, swaggering up to the redhead. Remus follows, trying to look casual and not on the verge of laughter.  
  
"Black," James says threateningly, and Sirius peers around Lily, his face brightening as he catches sight of the other boy.  
  
"Hullo, James! Nice night, eh?" he says flippantly. "As I was saying, you look absolutely splendid tonight, Evans. Can I call you Lily? You look a bit chilled, love; have some of my hot cocoa." Remus pulls his scarf over his mouth to hide his smile, and tries to keep from bursting into laughter. As Sirius tries to give Lily his cocoa, she is smiling, the pair of them purposefully ignoring the smoldering, twitching heap of boy next to them.  
  
"Lupin," he growls, "can't you muzzle him or something?"  
  
"James, he'd have too much fun with that and you know it. You look tense. Is something wrong?" Remus asks, biting his lip and looking at James with wide eyes. Lily takes a sip of cocoa and turns to James.  
  
"Oh. Is this still a date, Potter? I thought your not talking to me for the last half hour signaled we were done." James sputters as all of them look at him.  
  
"You were about to bite my head off! I was giving you space. Biding my time until I could safely speak again," he says, trying to regain his cool.  
  
"Is our James not in your good graces, my dear lady?" Sirius asks gallantly, and Lily rolls her eyes in response. "Not surprising in the least. Would, perhaps, public humiliation to prove his undying devotion to you aid in his regaining your favor?"  
  
"Public humiliation?" Lily asks, smiling.  
  
"Public humiliation?" James narrows his eyes at Sirius. "I think I may have to revoke our friendship." Sirius grins devilishly at James and beckons for Lily to lean closer to him. As his lips move quietly by her ear, she nods thoughtfully and glances at James. She straightens and shrugs.  
  
"I, Lily Evans, hereby request that you, James Potter, do a provocative pole dance for the next—" she checks her watch "—ten minutes, at least, and I might perhaps consider listening to your request for a second date, and even go so far as to consider it thoughtfully for a full day." James relaxes, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"Pole dancing, that's all? That's not too bad; there aren't too many people on the street—"  
  
"OI! ALL STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS AND THE WIDER WORLD! OUR OWN HEAD BOY IS GOING TO PERFORM FOR US THIS EVENING, IF YOU WILL STEP THIS WAY!"  
  
"I'm going to castrate you and revoke our friendship, and possibly lock you in a room with Snivellus and—" James mutters as heads turn in response to Sirius's shouting. His eyes widen when he sees the shadow of a hook-nosed boy stalking over. "And then if I'm feeling generous I might just acknowledge that I knew you once before permanently giving you a tail and pink hair."  
  
"Perfect," Lily says, rubbing her hands together. "And your favorite Slytherin to watch as well." James stands, his arms crossed and a glower on his face, and Lily nudges him with her fist. "Get on with it, then! I'll start timing when you really start dancing."  
  
"But—" James stops when he meets Lily's eyes, and he deflates. Without speaking another word, but with a murderous look aimed at Sirius, and another at Remus, he grabs the pole awkwardly, and wraps his leg around it. Someone in the gathering crowd lets out an encouraging hoot as he slides around the pole. When his spin brings him to face Sirius, he leans away from the pole, closer to the smug looking boy.

"I'm going to kill you later," he says in a low, sing-song voice. Sirius pushes him back toward the pole, singing "Are not" right back at him. A glance at Remus, and he steps back a bit into the crowd and cat-calls, setting off a few other students, and soon the crowd is roaring encouragingly. Lily is laughing, ignoring her watch, and Remus walks across the street to a dimly lit bench. In the circle of bright light, James wraps his legs around the pole, sliding up and down it, then spins around it again. Remus thinks that his muscles from Quidditch are making James's performance rather more spectacular than it would have been otherwise, as James holds himself out sideways from the pole. A moment later, Sirius flops down next to him.  
  
"What an excellent end to a day, wouldn't you agree?" he says, slumping in his seat and leaning on Remus.  
  
"Absolutely. If only more days ended with James making a fool out of himself." Remus watches as James trips over a bit of uneven pavement and almost falls around the post, Lily cheering him on with the crowd. Remus stretches his arm along the bench behind Sirius, who is chuckling softly.  
  
"Now that, dear Moony, is devotion," he says. Remus looks down at him.  
  
"I'll never be that devoted to you, Padfoot," Remus promises, and Sirius leans his head back on Remus's arm, grinning.  
  
"I'd never ask that of you, just James. It's one of the many complex layers that make up our friendship." The crowd cheers when James pulls Lily to dance with him around the pole, and she pulls his arms tightly back around the pole instead, pointing at her watch.  
  
"You've no idea how glad I am that I'm not a replacement James."  
  
"Not at all. You're my poncy werewolf," Sirius says, reaching up and mussing Remus's hair. "No substitutes."


End file.
